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The house was built in 1888 for a solicitor who became Mayor of the Town of Hawthorn.

The house could be worth $6-$7 million if restored to its former glory, its selling agent says.

Mr Gough said the house had been rented out for the past 10 years, as its owners did not have “the money or inclination” to restore it to its former glory.

He said potential buyers had expressed interest in converting the home into apartments and also adding an apartment building or townhouses at the back of the 1376sq m block.

Others were looking at turning the property into a spectacular family home.

Mr Gough estimated the latter could be worth $6-$7 million once completed.

He could not offer a price guide for the property, but said recent comparable sales in Hawthorn offered in indication of what it could earn at auction.

These included 65 Lisson Grove, which fetched $2.815 million last October, and a similar property at 144 Power St, which sold for an undisclosed price understood to be about $2.6 million.

A landmark Prahran home that once belonged to the suburb’s mayor of 1912-1913, Thomas Gemmell Logan Scott, is also seeking a new owner.

The charming facade of 52 The Avenue, Prahran.

The landmark home once belonged to the Mayor of the City of Prahran.

Jellis Craig South Yarra managing director Andrew McCann said the four-bedroom 52 The Avenue was built for the mayor in 1892 and had heritage overlay for being one of several attractive Victorian homes on the street.

Set on an unusually large block for Prahran of 1059sq m, the house is being offered for the first time more than half a century, with potential buyers looking at restoring it as a grand family home or turning it into a medical clinic.

It’s scheduled for a March 4 auction, with a price guide of $4 million-plus.

Thomas Gemmell Logan Scott, Mayor of the City of Prahran in 1912-13.

In Gembrook, a property dating back to the early 1900s and linked to Lady Mayoress of Melbourne, “Mrs J L Stein”, is set to go under the hammer on the same day.

Stockdale & Leggo Emerald selling agent Neville Trimnell said previous owners of Silverhills at 115 Gembrook Tonimbuk Rd — who lived there for 40 years before its current occupants — told him it had been built “by the daughter of the Lord Mayor of Melbourne at the time, as a weekend hunting lodge”.

115 Gembrook Tonimbuk Rd, Gembrook has links to a former Lord Mayor of Melbourne.

Inside the charming home.

An obituary in the Argus newspaper for Mrs J L Stein — who served as “Lady Mayoress during the term of office of Cr (John) Aikman”, Melbourne’s Lord Mayor in 1919-20 — also states that she resided at the property.

The obituary said Mrs Stein entertained the Prince of Wales, who went on to become King Edward VIII, during his tour of Australia in 1920. But Mr Trimnell said there was no record of him visiting the Gembrook house.

The 6.76ha property, which has also operated as an organic Kiwi fruit farm in its recent history, doesn’t have a specific price guide. But comparable sales suggest it could fetch in the mid-$700,000 to mid-$800,000 range.

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